Culy Velasquez, creator of the ‘Pero Like’ YouTube channel and longtime team member of Buzzfeed, spoke about his experiences with diversity issues during a recent visit to Sonoma State University.

On Sept. 28 in the HUB, Velasquez addressed a predominantly Latina crowd about his experiences as an entertainer and the message he intends to send through his YouTube channel. According to Velasquez, the goal of “Pero Like” is to create a place where he can show the world who Latinos really are, along with their beautiful culture.

Everyone in attendance spoke Spanish, which allowed them to connect as members of the same Latina community. This unique connection is essential to strengthening the community’s presence in the public eye, Velasquez said.

“Language plays a huge role in media representation for Latina women,” Velasquez said, “because we’re constantly learning more and more about each other everyday and can share that with the world.”

Though Velasquez is Hispanic, he said a lot of people have called him a “white-washed Latino.” But he said he is content with making Hispanic viewers smile and laugh for a few minutes of their day, even if some will comment with minor criticisms.

According to Velsquez, commentators have previously pointed out his lack of material on certain areas of Hispanic culture, such as Guatemala or Puerto Rico. One day, he hopes to cater to all of his viewers, including those connected to these places.

In his speech, Velasquez also touched on some of the lower points in his YouTube career. He said that he is always receiving hate comments, but believes those who support him will always outweigh those who criticize him.

“Most of the time, the haters will never even say it directly to your face,” Velasquez said when asked about the daily negative comments he receives.

Velasquez said he’d like to see “Pero Like” end up on Netflix or have it be its own television network one day. He said the production that goes behind a one 4-minute video, is quite tedious.

According to Velasquez, his interns at Buzzfeed work with a production team to develop lengthy, well thought-out scripts for each video.

Velasquez said he enjoys using comedy to show his culture to people of different ethnicities and religions around the world. He aims to present his material a way where it is so engaging and fun for his viewers that they will never want to stop watching.

“We’re all going to die one day, so it’s up to us to make a difference right now,” Velasquez said.